Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian Stelae
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3 1162 04539968 1 BRITISH MUSEUM HIEROGLYPHIC TEXTS FROM EGYPTIAN STELAE ETC. PARTI SECOND EDITION EDITED BY T. G.H.JAMES ISTANT KEEPER IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES PUBLISHED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM LONDON 1961 D D D D D D fh ^ ^<^OC^CS^^^\r^^ D \y BRITISH MUSEUM HIEROGLYPHIC TEXTS FROM EGYPTIAN STELAE ETC. PART I SECOND EDITION EDITED BY T. G. H.JAMES ASSISTANT KEEPER IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES PUBLISHED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM LONDON 1961 Sold at THE BRITISH MUSEUM and by Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 1 1 Grafton Street London, W. 1 Cambridge University Press, 200 Eiiston Road London, N. W. 1 Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd. 43 Great Russell Street, London, W.C. 1 H.M. Stationery Office, York House, Kingswav London, W.C. 2 Fine Arts -\ TJ \.l PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN iT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD BY VIVIAN RIDLER PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY PREFACE The texts published in this volume have been copied by Mr. T. G. H. James, Assistant Keeper in the Department, who has also prepared the descriptions of the sculptures on which they are inscribed. They include all the material of their class dating from the Old Kingdom now in the possession of the Museum. Seventy-five of these texts were published in the First edition of Hieroglyphic Texts in the British Museum, Part I, a work which has been out of print for many years; eleven of the remainder were included in Part VI of the same publication, and twenty-four are published in this series for the first time. In the course of his re-collation of the published texts, Mr. James, with the aid of comparative material which was not available to his predecessors, has been able to add many new readings and to correct passages which had been misunderstood. Because of the palaeographic interest of Old Kingdom signs, which the standard hieroglyphic fount could not reproduce, the plates in this volume have been traced by hand from photographs and collated with the originals. Some of the sculptures have suffered from the action of salt, and in consequence hieroglyphic signs, which could be seen in the first decade of this century when the previous edition was pre- pared, have now crumbled away. It has been considered preferable to show, in these cases, only the text now visible. An innovation, which has been prompted by the time which must elapse before it will be possible to prepare complete indexes to this series, is the addition of indexes of the personal names and ofticial titles occurring in the texts published in this volume. I. E. S. EDWARDS Department of Egyptian Antiquities 2 March 1961 DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES PLATE I 1. Relief of Z.--////^ (^Z^- 691 Material. Pinkish sandstone. Provenance. Wadi Magharah, Sinai. Dimensions. 0-33 m. /?., 0-41 m. w. Date. Third Dynasty. Presented by the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1905. Part of a tablet carved in rather rough, low relief. What remains shows the King Sanakhte, wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt, on the point of slaying a beduin; before the figure of the king is his name in a serekh and, farther to the right, the standard of Wepwawet. The figure of the god is now lost. Preservation. Fair; no colour remains. Bibliography. H.T. i', pi. 3; Porter and Moss, Top. Bibl. vn, p. 340; fkrny. Inscriptions of Sinai, ii, p. 56. 2. Panel of Rr-htp C^). 1242 Material. Limestone. Provenance. Meydum. Dimensions. 0-79 m. //., M7 m. u'. Date. Fourth Dynasty. Purchased 1898. Panel from the false door in the tomb of Rahotpe (see Petrie, Medum, pi. xiii). The deceased is shown seated on a simple, bull-legged, backless chair, one hand clasped on his chest and the other extended towards an offering-table carrying half- loaves of bread. The names of conventional oflFerings are written above the table and below it to one side of the stand. To the right of this scene is a standard offering- list of the early type. The name and titles of the deceased are written in larger signs on both sides of and above the main scene. The list contained in 1277 (Plate ii, 3) originally belonged to the same wall as this panel, see Petrie, loc. cit. The small panels 1273 and 1274 (Plate ii, 1 and 2) also come from the same tomb, cf. Petrie, op. cit., pi. xii. Preservation. The lower right-hand corner has been broken away from the main panel (now plastered back into position); otherwise the condition of the piece is excellent. The disappearance of almost all colour has revealed the full quality of the fine relief, in particular the details of the hieroglyphs. When copied by Petrie most of the colour existed; now there are traces only of black on the wig, of a yellowish -= brown on the flesh of the figure and on the hieroglyphs |^, ^, and in the top line. Originally Rahotpe was represented wearing a long leopard-skin garment. Bibliography. H.T. i^, pi. 20; Porter and Moss, Top. Bibl. iv, p. 91 ; Schafer and Andrae, Die Kunst des alien Orients, p. 235. PLATE II 1 and 2. Panels of Bw-nfr 1274, 1273 (J J, 3- 1274: Material. Limestone. Provenance. Meydum. Dimensions. 0-59 m. //., 0-58 m. w. Date. Fourth Dynasty. Purchased 1898. This panel, with its companion (1273), was originally set in front of the tomb of Rahotpe at Meydum. Both are carved with a single line of text in rather coarse rehef, containing the titles and name of Bunefer, a prince, otherwise unknown. In B.M. Guide (Sculpture), pp. 21-22, they are described as coming from Giza and were so assigned in Porter and Moss, Top. Bibl. in, p. 67. Meydum is, however, certain, cf. Petrie, Medum, pi. xii; also Porter and Moss, Top. Bibl. iv, p. 91. Preservation. The limestone is in good condition but some of the signs are damaged. The panel has been broken into a number of pieces, now rejoined. No colour remains. Bibliography. H.T. i\ pi. 28; Porter and Moss, Top. Bibl. in, p. 67 (see above), and iv, p. 91. 1273: Material Limestone. Provenance. Meydum. Dimensions. 0-61 m. //., 0-58 m. w. Date. Fourth Dynasty. Purchased 1898. A companion piece to 1274 above, q.v. Preservation. Good with the exception of the bottom left-hand corner which is lost; a few signs are damaged. No colour remains. Bibliography. H.T. i', pi. 28; Porter and Moss, Top. Bibl. in, p. 67 (!,ee above), and iv, p. 91. 3. Block from tomb of Rc-htp. Mil Material Limestone. Provenance. Meydum. Dimensions. 1-05 m. //., 0-63 m. u-., 0-22 m. thick. Date. Fourth Dynasty. Purchased 1898. This block formed part of the false door wall in the tomb of Rahotpe at Meydum to which the panel 1242 also belonged; cf. Petrie, Medum, pi. xiii, B.M. Guide (Sculpture), p. 19, says 'from Gizah' incorrectly. The upper part of the inscription contains the names of fifteen pieces of furniture which formed part of the funerary equipment of the tomb. At the bottom are the beginnings of three lines containing the names of sacred ointments. The left-hand side of the slab carries fragments of signs from which the title and name of the owner of the tomb can be read. The signs on this block are well carved with much detail, but are not quite as fine as those on the central panel 1242. Preservation. The surface and signs are well preserved but the edges of the block are damaged. No colour remains; there was clearly much colour preserved when the tomb was found, cf. Petrie, loc. cit. Bibliography. H.T. i', pi. 19; Mariette, Monuments divers, pi. 19; Petrie, Medum, pi. xiii; cf. Porter AND Moss, Top. Bibl. iv, p. 91. PLATE III Slabs from the tomb of Iry ([."iM^i) 1. Slab with figure of 7/t. 1169 Material. Limestone. Provenance. Uncertain. Dimensions. 1-13 m. //., 0-44 m. u-. Date. Fourth Dynasty. Purchased 1896. Panel carved in fine, low relief with a figure of Iry who is shown standing and holding a staff and sceptre: above the figure are two lines of text containing his name and titles. This slab with its three companion slabs 1168, 1170. and 1171 are described as coming from Giza in B.M. Guide (Sculpture), p. 13 f: H.T. i\ p. 9, says 'From the necropolis of Memphis'; Porter and Moss, Top. BihI. in, p. 203, says 'probably from Saqqara'. Preservation. Good. There is still much red paint on the body of Iry and on that of the hieroglyph f%^ ; the eyebrow and eye are outlined in black and the pupil is painted red. No other colour survives. Bibliography. H.T. i'. pi. 17; Portkr and Moss, Top. Bibl. in, p. 203. 2. Slab with figures of 7n- and Int (ji T). 1 171 Material. Limestone. Provenance. Uncertain. Dimensions. 0-71 m. //., 0-63 m. if. Date. Fourth Dynasty. Purchased 1896. Finely carved low relief panel with representations of Iry and his wife Inet seated on either side of an offering-table bearing stylized half-loaves of bread. Above the table is an enumeration of common food- and drink-offerings. At the top is a line of text naming the two persons; in the line at the bottom there is a standard offering- formula. Preservation. Good. The only surviving colour is the black on the wigs of the two people. Bibliography. H.T. \\ pi. 16: Porter and Moss, Top.